Rugby League Cares is taking the road less travelled on its annual fundraising challenge in 2021 with a 200-mile coast-to-coast cycling adventure.
Sponsored by UK Red Security and Fire, the UK Red Great North Ride will leave Whitehaven on Friday September 25 and over the next three days follow a challenging route all the way to the North Sea at Tynemouth.
The UK Red Great North Ride gives participants the opportunity to raise the valuable funds that enable Rugby League Cares to continue making a difference to the lives of people at every level of the Rugby League family.
Riders will also get to spend three memorable and fun days in the saddle cycling alongside Rugby League legends including Keith Senior, Mick Cassidy, Robbie Hunter-Paul and Nathan McAvoy.
Most of the places on the ride have already been filled but RL Cares has reserved three spots for RL fans with a sense of adventure who fancy a challenge and the chance to create memories that will last a lifetime.
The ride sees Leeds-based UK Red Security and Fire extend their support for the charity into a fifth year, having sponsored the Rides to Wembley in 2017, 2018 and 2019, as well as directors Kevin Walton and Dean Bettison riding to Paris for RL Cares in 2016.
Chris Rostron, the Head of Rugby League Cares, said: “The UK Red Great North Ride is going to be another fantastic experience for everyone involved.
“On behalf of the charity I’d like to thank UK Red Security and Fire for their generous sponsorship yet again: Kevin, Dean and the team love going the extra mile to support our work and we’re delighted to have them on board.
“The UK Red Great North Ride peloton features some very familiar faces and the backing of Rugby League legends underlines how important our work is, especially player welfare.
“This is our first fundraising event for almost two years, a period that has seen us help more people than ever before, and I’m sure the public will recognise what we have done, and continue to do by getting behind the ride.”
UK Red Security and Fire Managing Director Kevin Walton said: “The work Rugby League Cares does helping the sport’s communities at all levels is more important now than ever before and we are proud to be the title sponsors of the UK Red Great North Ride.
“Our partnership with the charity is important to us, both as a business and as Rugby League fans, and we’re looking forward to saddling up in Whitehaven almost as much as climbing off the bikes in Tynemouth at the end of the ride!”
On Day 1, the riders will cover 75 miles from Whitehaven along the Solway Firth for an overnight stay in Carlisle; the route on Day 2 follows the historic Reivers Way for 70 miles along the England-Scotland border and through Kielder Forest to Bellingham; and on Day 3 the ride heads south to link up with the Hadrian’s Wall cycleway on a 60-mile trip to the east coast.
Riders and their bikes will be collected from central pick-up points in Yorkshire and the North West on the afternoon of Thursday September 24 and transported to West Cumbria for an overnight hotel stay in Whitehaven.
The riders will stay in hotels in Carlisle and Bellingham on Friday and Saturday nights before being ferried back from Tynemouth to the pick-up points at the end of the ride on the afternoon of Sunday September 26.
All meals and snacks during the ride will be provided, along with a UK Red Great North ride jersey and hoodie.
If you would like to join the UK Red Great North Ride for RL Cares, or would like more information, please email info@rlcares.org.uk
To support the work of Rugby League Cares, please sponsor one of the riders taking part in the Great North Ride by visiting www.justgiving.com/team/GreatNorthRide
